Sally-Ann Hart: Conservatism is not a theatrical costume that you can change when things get tough

Sally-Ann Hart is the former MP for Hastings and Rye and a former Rother district councillor. 

The recent defection of a number of Conservative MPs and former MPs to Reform has prompted the predictable commentary that this is evidence of ‘14 years of Tory failure’ and that the Conservative Party is dead.  I do not accept that analysis and neither should any genuine Conservatives.

We are not a protest Party.

We have values rooted in responsibility, respect for institutions and a long-term view of our national interest. We are not a party for grievance or personal positioning and those who think that either misunderstand us or never shared our values in the first place. Some of those now championing Reform were once staunch Conservatives, whilst others moved between parties long before finding their latest political home. This should make us think. Conservatism is not something you put on when it suits you or take off when politics or life becomes hard.

We must also be honest about the period we governed. The Conservative Party led the UK through an exceptionally difficult and challenging period in modern British history, mostly in circumstances not of our choosing. In 2010 we inherited a country emerging from a financial crisis, burdened by high debt after 13 years of a high spending Labour government.

The country was still instinctively left leaning and was not actually ready for reform or austerity. We did not win an outright majority and, rightly or wrongly, went into coalition with the Liberal Democrats which required compromise on Conservative policies. That was the political reality.

Between 2010 and 2015, the priority was stabilising the economy – not glamorous, but necessary. Those who talk of ‘14 years of Tory failure’ conveniently forget how close the UK came to losing economic credibility altogether.

David Cameron’s majority in 2015 proved that the Conservatives could win outright. But I would argue that Cameron was a ‘soft Conservative’ and his leadership style, influenced by the Blairite habit of floating policies to the press and adjusting course according to reaction, set a pattern that has persisted. This is not leadership. Leadership is setting a direction and persuading the country to follow, not testing the wind.

Then came Brexit which was a constitutional, economic and political undertaking of unprecedented complexity. Boris Johnson delivered it, but we did not finish the job, and he let an 80 seat majority slip through his fingers through carelessness. It was not just an historic opportunity wasted, but so many potential opportunities wasted.

Brexit was followed by Covid which caused turmoil across the world, upending economies, social norms and public finances. Then war in Ukraine and the Middle East. Through all of this, Britain was carefully steered by Conservative governments despite internal turmoil. I shudder to imagine what damage a Labour government, with its instincts for lies, spending, regulation and state expansion would have inflicted under the same pressures.

So, I do not accept the propaganda slogan ’14 years of Tory failure’. What I do accept is that there were areas where we should have acted sooner and more decisively, especially on immigration, integration and cultural issues that matter deeply to the British public.

I spoke robustly on these issues and, like many others, faced smears and intimidation during elections. Too often, legitimate concerns were met with accusations and intimidation rather than debate, generating anxiety and a fear of speaking out, of fighting for common sense Conservative values. As a Party, we were too timid when it came to arguments about the pace of social change without proper integration, levels of legal and illegal migration, and the corrosive impact of the woke ideology on our country’s history, women’s rights, common sense and family life.

This is why I joined the newly formed Conservative Common Sense Group on entering Parliament. I was also a member of the One Nation Group. Some of my colleagues saw this as contradictory. It is not, and as Conservatives we need to move away from factionalism and embrace being a common sense, One Nation party that focuses on practical solutions which speak to the whole country.

The great One Nation Conservative Benjamin Disraeli understood something many politicians do not, that politics is about holding a nation together, not simply winning arguments. His Conservatism was practical not ideological and rooted in the realities of everyday life. He understood that social cohesion, family, community and national identity are the foundations of a stable society. Common sense, in this vein, is not a slogan but the application of Conservative principles to real life and everyday problems – values I believe that most people in this country hold instinctively.

The Common Sense Group argued for tougher action on migration, a more robust line against woke issues, for women’s concerns to be taken seriously and for family and community to be put back at the heart of policy. Some ministers listened; others did not. But we made those arguments where change happens – in government.

That is the crucial difference between Conservatives and Reform. Reform offers anger and division without responsibility, and rhetoric without knowing the burden of governing. It does not share Conservative values or the obligations that come with power. Many of the defecting MPs did not champion common sense answers (let alone Reform’s) when they held office, only after leaving it.

Today the Conservative Party has a leader in Kemi Badenoch, who represents something different. She is principled, focused and not driven by focus groups or the press. She is unafraid to lead rather than follow. That matters.

Britain is not broken. It remains a remarkable country with strong communities, resilient institutions and an abundance of common sense. Conservatism speaks to that reality. Our task is to rebuild confidence in Conservative values of responsibility, family, fairness and freedom – not chase populist shortcuts.

The Conservative Party will endure because Conservatism is serious. Reform does not share that inheritance, and no amount of borrowed rhetoric will change that. This is a moment to hold our nerve, stay calm and unite behind Kemi Badenoch in the exceptionally hard job she has undertaken.

The future of the country depends on it.